Nothing, Never, Nothing, Forever
by pale-blue11
Summary: She could see the water getting less deep; the bank was close ahead. She didn't want to reach the bank. She never wanted to reach the bank. It was there that... it would end. But she couldn't stop it- here was when the dream became a nightmare. I DON'T OWN DANNY PHANTOM
1. Nothing, Never, Nothing, Forever

Danny smiled at Sam, and she grinned back, small tears shining in her eyes from the force of the wind. She was so beautiful at that time, Danny had trouble staying aloft. He was struggling to remain in this moment forever. The small amount of warmth provided by Sam's hand pierced through the ghostly hazmat suit, heating his frozen insides with a hot glow. He still couldn't believe that she was finally his girlfriend. Maybe the Disasteroid was good for something, after all. Besides Sam, Danny had also gained the respect of not just Amity Park, but the world. At first the attention was too much, but when he shared this piece of information with Sam, the situation was quickly resolved. No reporters were willing to get too close to the happy couple after she was done screaming at them.

Distantly, Danny realised that he was still staring at Sam. She was gazing back at him, but her expression was slightly nervous. Her grip on his arm tightened as she reminded him to watch where they were going, her loud voice only just managing to reach Danny's ears, despite his ghost-enhanced senses.

Danny chuckled at her anxiety, knowing that for as long as they had each other, no serious harm would befall them. Nothing would be able to separate him from Sam. Never.

Sam tugged on his sleeve, prompting him to float down. They were flying over Lake Eerie, just barely skimming the water. The silvery bodies of large fish gleamed in the moonlight, a glow surrounding them similar to Danny's ghostly aura. Sam smiled, letting down the guard that she so diligently maintained around other people. Danny was the exception, he was the one that the true her existed for.

Danny watched his and Sam's reflections being distorted by the subtle ripples on the otherwise smooth surface of the lake. They were together, just like they always should have been, just like they would be forever.

The lake ended abruptly, shiny black water being rapidly replaced with coarse silver sand. Danny's boots crunched as he landed, Sam letting go as her feet touched solid ground. He smiled and held out a hand, no words needing to be said out loud. It was all written in the air between them, a silent message that only they could read.

Sam smiled softly and placed her slender hand in his, then they just stood there, each staring into the other's eyes. Nothing else was necessary, because everything was already perfect. They would never have to be alone, not when they have each other.

Slowly, carefully, Danny tilted forward, so that he could feel Sam's breath on his face. Leaning even closer, he placed his mouth by her ear.

"I love you," Danny whispered. "Nothing will be able to change that. Never."

Sam replied with a soft exhale. "You can read my mind."

They stood back from each other, fingertips just barely touching. Danny watched the shadows play across her face, illuminating her features and making her image a sharp picture of contrast. He blinked slowly and dropped his hand, skeptical as to if any of this was even real...

And maybe it wasn't.

As Danny lazily opened his eyes, the glowing green orbs failed to see anyone before him. The shore was empty, no one but the lonely, solitary figure of Phantom stood upon the sand.

A blind panic settled over Danny. What if he had imagined it? What if Sam was never actually there? What if he was fated to have nothing- forever?

The sand made a strange noise as he collapsed, unable to tear his eyes away from where he had last seen Sam. The fine silver grains were undisturbed. No one had ever stood there, whispered the words of his dreams to him, given him reason to hope again. And no one ever would.

His mind switching to automatic, Danny flew to his most frequented haunt. As he sat in front of the large, ornate gravestone, Danny remembered everything. The Disasteroid, saving the Earth...

Dying.

The last memory hurt the most. It grew more and more painful each night. He could still feel the elation he experienced after being accepted by the world, finally able to reveal his secret. But, even more powerful than the joy, was the betrayal.

His parents, his killers, wouldn't even come to the funeral. It was organized completely by Sam and Tucker- hence the expensive gravestone.

As it did every night, the hurt resurfaced, bubbling uncontrollably and building in pressure. The urge to see his parents, to ask them why, to hear the answer he already anticipated, was overshadowed by his need to see Sam one last time. But...

He couldn't.

She was alive, and he was a ghost. A full-ghost. It was his fault, he should have known what would happen. He deserved this.

With that last thought echoing through his head, Danny curled up above his grave, as was his nightly routine. He read through the inscription one last time, the words already fixed in his memory.

_Daniel Fenton_

_Loving brother and friend_

_No one was ever named 'hero' for following the crowd. Heroes set their own course._

_-Jonathan Lockwood Huie_

Maybe I should have set a different course, Danny thought regretfully. It was too late now; Sam was gone. She still visited Danny's grave frequently- three, four, times a week. But she never saw him. Never heard the desperate screams, the begging for her acknowledgement. Sometimes, Danny wondered why that was. The best answer he could come up with was that he was never as important to Sam as she was to him.

Over the years, Sam had grown and changed, but Danny remained the same. He was forever trapped in his ghost form, he supposed that there was now no human body for him to go back to.

She had visited earlier that day, digging up the memories that Danny wanted to bury. Needed to bury.

Already, Danny, as he once was, had been forgotten by the world, while he was struggling to forget. Maybe if he could block out his memories, eliminate his past life, the endless cycle would falter, stop.

Each night, remembering his dream. Each night, living his nightmare.

His Sam, the fifteen-year-old Goth, would come soon after darkness spread itself over Amity Park, allowing Danny a glimpse of what might have been. Then... She left, and he was alone- at least until the next moonrise. Beautiful torture.

It was maddening, driving the unfortunate ghost towards insanity, for without Sam, Danny was nothing...

Never...

Nothing...

_Forever._

**AN:**

**Hey! pale-blue11 here!**

**This is my ****_attempt_**** to write a sad story- and it really went against the plan. I'm hoping to write the original soon, but this just came out instead :/ **

**Please let me know how I did.**

**Please review, favourite and/or follow. All feedback is greatly appreciated :) Also- only for my one-shots at the moment- I will reply to all reviews! Just please expect about a weeks delay, maybe more- I'm a procrastinator!**

**Have a good day!**

**pale-blue11**


	2. Together Again

**Together Again**

**(What's this? Another chapter?! :O)**

He was absolutely captivating. The wind blew his hair back, the moon illuminated his face. Not that Sam really needed to see it; she had already memorized every excruciating detail.

He smiled at her, green eyes flashing, and she couldn't help the large, goofy grin that spread over her own features. They dipped a little lower, towards the trees that reached out for them. The ghost boy and the goth girl. Together again.

The trees were thinning, becoming smaller. Eventually, all too soon, they left the silvery branches behind. Sam grew nervous, glancing up at Danny. It was getting closer- their midnight rendezvous. Lake Eerie shone before them in the distance, beckoning them with the promise of years to come. Years that they would spend on its banks, saying farewell to the moon and the stars before the sun stole the sky.

The silver water was fast approaching, too fast. While Sam loved seeing the lake, it was a bittersweet moment. Soon, she would have to leave.

So she asked him to go slow over the mirror-like surface. They trailed their fingertips in the cool liquid, as they did every night. Their touches created ripples that warped and disturbed the reflections of the stars, scaring away whatever creatures might dwell in the lake's depths.

Sam could feel his gaze on her, watching quietly. She looked away from the water and smiled softly at him, before they both returned their eyes to the mirror below them. Sam felt a tingle of hope, as she did every night. Maybe this time would be different.

Maybe this time, they could be together again.

She could see the water getting less deep; the bank was close ahead. She didn't want to reach the bank. She _never _wanted to reach the bank. It was there that... it would end.

But she couldn't stop it- here was when the dream became a nightmare.

Screaming, because he would never listen. Hearing the sand beneath her boots. Begging the scene to stop, to spare her the agony of watching it again. His hand on hers burned, but still she could not pull away from his touch.

"_I love you,"_ he whispered into her ear, each word like a knife twisting inside of her. "_Nothing will be able to change that. Never._"

No matter what she did, Sam couldn't stop the words that always came tumbling out of her mouth.

"_You can read my mind_."

Could he really? Could he hear how each time he whispered those words to her, she died a little more? Could he hear her choking on the knowledge that afflicted her? Could he hear her pleading with him not to close those beautiful eyes of his? Because once he closed those beautiful eyes... the dream would disappear.

But he did it anyway. Slowly, torturously... he blinked. In that one long second, Sam was wrenched away from his side, her hand still held up in front of her, the cool from his touch lingering on her fingertips.

She knew. It was a dream, just like all the other nights since his death. But this time... it felt different.

Her arthritic hands clawed at the sheets that had tangled around her frail body. They trembled in desperation and sorrow, longing for what could have been. Tears ran through the deep wrinkles that cut pathways around her tired, amethyst eyes. Old age hadn't come quickly to Sam Manson, but her heart still yearned for the one she had loved as a teenager.

With the moon still shining brightly outside her window, Sam shuffled over to the wardrobe. Her thick, black dressing gown hung loosely over her hunched form, showing just how old she was. She couldn't wear that to see Danny.

At the very back of the wardrobe, collecting dust, was a dirty plastic bag. Sam pulled it out and placed it on the bed, staring at it wistfully. Inside lay the clothes that she had worn with him. With Danny.

They took a bit longer to pull on this time; her fingers didn't want to cooperate. But they still fit. And somehow, that made it worse.

The graveyard where he lay was just down the street, and not by any accident on Sam's behalf. Her breath, as she limped down the road, puffed out in white, misty clouds. A 'ghost sense'. That's what she still called it. Just like he had.

The concrete footpath changed to pavement as she passed through the gates. Two stone angels, their expressions kind, watched the old woman walk between them, urging her onwards. They might have winced, if they had not been made of stone, when she stumbled slightly on the overgrown grass.

Finally, she reached his marker, reading the carved words one last time.

"I'm sorry, Danny," Sam chuckled, hating the way her voice sounded. "I didn't bring a flower this time."

Slowly, painfully, she lowered herself to the ground and leant against his gravestone. A fresh rose, from just the other day, rested beside her swollen knee. Sam picked it up and examined the petals.

"This one still looks good," she told the stone, as if confiding in her dearest friend. "It should be okay for tonight."

A gust of wind swept through the cemetery, blowing leaves into Sam's lap. Groaning, she brushed them away. The simple movement caused her to gasp for breath.

"Oh, Danny," she wheezed, closing her eyes. "Don't ever get old. It's not as fun as it looks, trust me."

Then it was silent, but for her rattling breaths. The rose had fallen out of her grasp, back onto the grass where she had found it.

_You're still beautiful, Sam._

Her eyes cracked open, about all that she could do. It was enough for her to see what she had been craving all those long years.

Danny. _Her _Danny. Less than a foot away.

He hovered nervously by her feet, anxiously waiting for her reply.

"Huh," Sam said weakly, without energy. "You came."

While she felt herself becoming fainter, his form only grew in brightness. He grinned at her.

_I never left. You just couldn't see me._

Sam tried to nod, but her head wouldn't move.

"Danny," she whispered, eyes drifting closed once more. "What will it take for us to be together again?"

_Just this._

Sam felt his cool hand slip into hers, as solid as it had been while he was alive. Gently, he pulled her up. Sam came willingly, easily, as if all of the troubles that came with old age had just melted away.

_Open your eyes, Sam._

Stubbornly, Sam shook her head, afraid of what she might see.

_Please? For me?_

Sam hesitated, then carefully blinked. She was standing straight again, almost at the same height as the ghost in front of her.

"D-Danny?" She whispered. "Am I... A-are you..."

_Yes, _he ran a hand through her thick, black hair. _As if nothing ever happened._

As if time had gone back and deposited them both where they wanted to be. As if Danny hadn't died. As if Sam had never grown old. The only clue as to what happened was the glow that surrounded not just Danny, but Sam as well.

Struck by a thought, fifteen-year-old Sam turned and looked down at her older self, slumped against the marker with her wrinkled face hidden. A cold hand slipped over the young girl's shoulders, guiding her away.

_Are you ready?_ Danny asked once the grave vanished from sight, smiling encouragingly.

Sam nodded, and at the same time, they vanished from the mortal world.

Together again.

**AN:**

**Hey! pale-blue11 here!**

**This is really unexpected- I never planned for another chapter, but... well, please tell me what you think. I wrote the first part a while ago, so I'd appreciate it if someone told me if they think I've gotten better. What do you like/hate about my writing style, that sort of thing :)**

**Did anyone cry?**

**So people who follow my other one-shots will know that I shouldn't be here! I'll put more information into that story- I've already written three more chapters for it!**

**Anyway, you guys aren't interested in that :)**

**So have a nice day!**

**pale-blue11**


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